The Manitoba School Act of 1890: An Insult to the French Roman Catholics.

Smith, Robert B.

The Manitoba School Act of 1890 was an insult to the French Canadian culture and religion. New settlers in Manitoba brought with them the model of the Ontario school system, and as the new majority of Manitoba, they, through the Manitoba government, abolished French as an official language. At the same time, single, tax supported public schools were set up and that meant the Catholic schools would no longer receive public funding. The reaction of the Roman Catholic French minority was evident in the comments made in newspapers and a petition signed by many members of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy of Canada. Most Francophones wanted the federal government to disallow or even cancel the Provincial Act of Manitoba. For years the school question went before the courts and the federal government. In 1896 the Laurier-Greenway Compromise agreement was reached among the English speaking Protestant majority of Manitoba. Serving as an amendment to the Manitoba School Act of 1890, the Laurier-Greenway Compromise was an attempt to erase the insult directed toward the French speaking Catholic minority in 1890. Although the Compromise eased the crisis, the insult was not completely erased. (Author/CK)